Beauchamp to seek recount in Manchester Ward 12 alderman race

MANCHESTER — Ward 12 alderman candidate Roger Beauchamp intends to file for a recount Thursday, after the official results showed he lost the election Tuesday by 36 votes to Keith Hirschmann.

According to the official vote tally, released Wednesday, Beauchamp won 503 votes, while Hirschmann won 539.

Beauchamp, the current Ward 12 school board member, was seeking to win the alderman's seat held by Patrick Arnold, who ran for mayor. Hirschmann was the Ward 12 alderman from 1996 to 2002.

Beauchamp said he didn't suspect that anything was amiss with his opponent's campaign or the vote count, but that he wanted to be confident in the results. "I'm just going to exercise my right under state statute to have a recount," he said.

Beauchamp won the 2011 Ward 12 school board race by 5 points, with 570 votes.

Beauchamp was backed by the city Democratic party, while Hirschmann was backed by the Republicans.